A commonly used device in the medical field is an endotracheal tube which is particularly useful during surgical procedures for maintaining control over the patient's breathing. Commonly, endotracheal tubes are manufactured from resilient type materials and are used to control ingress and egress from the patient's trachea. The endotracheal tube insures an unobstructed passageway during surgery and permits controlled respiration of the patient. Also quite importantly, the endotracheal tube prevents blood, mucus, vomitus, and irrigating solutions from entering the respiratory tract and may be used to remove mucus and any other solution from the respiratory tract.
As is well known, present day endotracheal tubes are inserted through the patient's mouth and beyond, into the vestibular portion of the trachea. The outer end of the tube is connected to suitable medical apparatus such as a suction device for aspirating the trachea, a source of anesthesia or the like. In a typical arrangement, the outer end of present day endotracheal tubes are arranged to be connected to the associated medical apparatus by a suitable fitting or other means so that the outer portion of the tube and attendant connectors, hoses, etc., are disposed in front of the patient's face during use of the tube. Surgical procedures, such as plastic surgery on the face, lips, etc., are difficult with these various component parts providing a source of interference to the surgeon. The surgeon's view and manipulations are obstructed along with the view of the anesthesiologist. The obstruction problem is aggravated in the particular case of infants and small children whose facial area is rather small in comparison to the endotracheal tube.
It can further be understood that once the endotracheal tube and attendant apparatus have been properly positioned with respect to the patient awaiting surgery, the stage is set. Any movement of the apparatus during the surgical procedure may cause a misalignment of the tube within the patient's trachea which could lead to malfunction of same.
The present invention provides an endotracheal tube which overcomes the abovenoted disadvantages of prior art tubes. Moreover, no prior art is known that would teach or suggest the tube of the present invention.